What Will Survive of Us

Love can change your life. Can it survive marriage and middle age?

‘Wonderfully wise, moving and heartfelt’ WILLIAM BOYD

‘A tender love story’ DAILY TELEGRAPH

*LONGLISTED FOR THE DUBLIN LITERARY AWARD 2025*

Lily falls in love with Sam the minute she sets eyes on him. It takes Sam a day or two longer. Curious, because Lily has never quite believed in love, while Sam thought he understood it inside out.

Lily, a documentary maker, and Sam, a playwright, are both in relationships that have quietly expired, and an affair takes hold that they are powerless to resist.

Arriving in mid-life, their relationship opens unexpected new worlds. But what will happen to them when familiarity and age begin to take their toll? What will survive?

‘Celebrates love in later life’
HARPER’S BAZAAR

‘Playful, knowing…a romping read in all senses’
EVENING STANDARD

‘Jacobson at his finest’
LINDA GRANT